On Stories

[marycatelli]

On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature by C.S. Lewis

A collection of essays.  All on literature in some way.

There's reviews, and discussions of individual authors.  (He doesn't review Orwell, for instance; he writes an essay comparing <I>Animal Farm</I> and <I>1984</I> and wonders why the latter is the more popular.)  Others are analysis of types of literature, such as the nature of story, or science fiction.  Some are about writing, such as for children.  One's about words; astute readers will note the germs of Studies in Words.  Another is about the teaching of literature.

An interesting look around.

Comments

[thefish30.livejournal.com]

"and wonders why the latter is the more popular."

Snort! Of course he would! After all, who doesn't love talking animals?
Oh, Jack, never change.

(Ofc, I prefer Animal Farm myself, it's much more fun; but we obviously needed 1984.

[marycatelli]

Well, actually, his objections were that the characters of 1984 are too squalid and insignificant to catch the full sympathy of the reader -- the animals are far more human. And Farm in its shortness manages to put more bite into things, like "more equal than others."